Leave Your Lover
by TheRavenclawAthena
Summary: Angsty Dramione songfic to "Leave Your Lover" by Sam Smith. Tells the story of how Draco watched Hermione and Ron fall for each other using the song lyrics. The main ship is Dramione, but it includes Romione.


**I don't have much to give, but I don't care for gold. What use is money when you need someone to hold?**

Money: the one thing Draco Malfoy had in excess. When he was younger, he was proud of this fact. But as he grew older, he realized that money couldn't buy everything. More and more he craved not material possessions, but human companionship. For a true friend, for a girlfriend. For Hermione Granger.

To him, she was beautiful in a million different ways. Ways he couldn't even begin to describe in earthly words, but ways that were tangible nonetheless. She was beautiful when she smiled, when she laughed, when she answered questions in class. Merlin's beard, she was beautiful when she breathed. But it didn't matter how beautiful she was, how his heart pounded whenever she was around. Because she didn't value money at all. And the one thing Ron Weasley didn't have much of: money.

 **Don't have direction, I'm just rolling down this road, waiting for you to bring me in from out the cold.**

More and more, Draco found himself aimlessly wandering around the castle. The pacing seemed to help distract him from  
his depressing thoughts.

One day, as he was pacing up and down a corridor on the fifth floor, he heard voices. His heart sunk as he realized it was Hermione and Ron.

As the two rushed by, talking and laughing, Hermione bumped into Draco. "Ooh, sorry," she said, letting go of Ron's hand and turning towards Draco.  
"That's all right, Granger," he responded, looking into her eyes and once again admiring her beauty, the beauty that he knew could never be his.

"Come on, 'Mione!" Ron said, and their moment of eye contact was broken as Hermione rushed off to join her boyfriend.

Ron glared at Malfoy jealously and put his arm around her shoulders protectively.

Draco's heart broke as Hermione smiled at Ron and kissed his cheek. He turned away from the couple bitterly, tears coming to his eyes and walked the other way.

His blood boiled with hatred for Weasley. He'd give anything, anything, to have Hermione look at him that way, and Weasley just took her for granted. Draco remembered all the times Ron had made her cry, made her feel sad and lonely. Ron didn't deserve her, had never deserved her.

Draco was a broken person, that was for sure. And the only person who could fix him was in love with someone else.

 **You'll never know the endless nights, the rhyming of the rain, or how it feels to fall behind and watch you call his name.**

Draco couldn't sleep. Every night was the same: He'd try to go to bed but give up about an hour later as thoughts of Hermione haunted him. He'd wander around the castle, going to his favorite spot: a high stone parapet. He'd stay there for hours, regardless of the weather. His favorite was the rain. Standing there hearing it drum in its rhyming patterns against the walls of the castle, getting soaked to the skin, that was when Draco felt most alive. He wished he could share the beauty of the storms with Hermione; he felt like she'd be able to appreciate it.

But there was only one person on Hermione's mind, and that person was not Draco Malfoy. Not even close.

 **Pack up and leave everything; don't you see what I can bring?**

Draco knew he could make Hermione happy. He had so much to offer her. He could give her the world if only she'd look up from Ron.

And it wasn't just that he could buy her whatever she wanted, that she would be his world. No, it was more than that. After years of observing her, he knew that their personalities perfectly complemented each other. She was intelligent, she was proud, she was passionate, and so was he. He could almost imagine the conversations they'd have, the battles of wits, the debates: things she could never have with Ron. He could challenge her intellectually, and Ron...well, Ron simply couldn't even come close to doing that.

It was plain and simple: Draco Malfoy and Hermione Granger deserved nothing less than each other.

 **Can't keep this beating heart at bay.**

There were times when Draco almost couldn't keep it in. When the feelings enveloping him were too strong for one person to bear. When he thought that it would almost, almost be worth it to tell Hermione how it felt, to have that weight off his chest, if only temporarily.

When he was in those moods, watching Ron and Hermione was more unbearable than usual. Those were the days when he could barely take his eyes off her, barely concentrate on anything but her.

And those were the days when every look, every touch, every laugh, and every kiss Ron and Hermione shared shattered his beating heart into a million pieces.

 **Set my midnight sorrow free.**

Midnight. Draco woke up in a cold sweat from the throes of a nightmare. He glanced at the clock and groaned. Midnight. He'd only been asleep for about an hour, and already the nightmares had struck. Knowing trying to get back to sleep would be an exercise of futility, he put on his robes and slipped out of the dormitory. He headed down the corridor and almost bumped into someone. Hermione Granger.

She gasped. "Malfoy! What are you doing?"

"I could ask you the same question, Granger," he responded, raising an eyebrow at her.

"I'm meeting Ron," she said with a giggle. "But don't tell anyone, or we'll get in trouble!"

He nodded quickly and turned away without saying anything so she wouldn't see the sadness in his eyes, hear it in his voice.

It struck him how unfair it was. The girl he loved, the girl he belonged with, was up at midnight going on an adventure with her boyfriend, while he spent his midnight wandering around the castle full of pain and sorrow.

He finally returned to his dormitory in the wee hours of the morning and sunk into a stupor that could barely be called sleeping.

And that was how Draco Malfoy had the worst midnight of his life, while Hermione Granger had one of the best.

 **I will give you all of me, just leave your lover, leave him for me.**

One time, Draco decided to write Hermione a letter and pour out his feelings for her.

"Hermione,

I love you. I love the way your eyes light up when you talk. I love the way you blush when you're excited. I love your intelligence, your beauty, your passion for life. You're perfect, Hermione. And I thought you should know it.

I'm not asking for anything. All I'm asking is that you read this, that you listen to what I'm saying. I could give you the world, Hermione, and all you have to do is want me the way I want you.

I love you.

Draco"

He looked up from the finished letter, firm in his resolve to actually send it to her. He was sitting next to the lake. Across the lake, he saw Ron and Hermione sitting together, their voices carried by the wind.

"I love you, Ron. You'll always be the only one for me," she said, touching his face. She pulled him in for a kiss.

Draco stood up, heartbroken, and tore the note into a million tiny pieces. He threw them into the lake and walked into the castle without looking back.

Giant squid food, that's all that Draco's love for Hermione was.

 **We sit in bars and raise our drinks to growing old.**

"Luke. You?" the man said, holding out his hand.

Draco was sitting in a Muggle bar in the middle of the winter, many years after the Battle. He was talking to a total stranger, someone he felt connected to due to their both being lonely.

"Draco." He shook the proffered hand.

"Interesting name. What's its origin?"

Draco sighed as he explained, wishing he'd used a false name. He preferred Muggle bars, as he wasn't exactly the most popular person in the Wizarding World, and he hated the judgmental stares he received. But sometimes it could be aggravating.

"You look like you could use a drink," Luke said, ordering two beers and handing one to Draco.

He nodded his thanks, and the two struck up a conversation.

"I'm divorced. Walked in on my wife and another man...and that was it. How 'bout you, you ever been in love?"

Draco thought about lying, but then he realized there was no point in that. Talking about the pain might help him deal with it. "There was one long ago...but she never even noticed me. I wasn't exactly the most popular guy at school. She married someone else a few years back. But I never forgot her."

Luke nodded sympathetically. "It hurts, doesn't it?"

"Yeah. I thought it would get easier, but it hasn't."

"Trust me, it'll never go away totally. I guess pain is how you remember the people you love."

The two turned to a less depressing subject and finished their drinks together.

As Draco headed out into the cold, pulling his collar up against the wind, he realized just how lonely and desperate he was. He went to Muggle bars to talk to strangers as if they could somehow help with the pain.

Meanwhile, Hermione and Ron were living happily together with their two children.

 **Oh, I'm in love with you, and you will never know.**

One thing was for sure: Hermione Granger never knew that Draco Malfoy loved her, that he thought about her constantly, that he wanted her like he had never wanted anything before.

Draco had never been unable to have something he wanted before. But now all he wanted was a girl, a girl he knew he could never have.

There had been times in his life when he'd thought it might be possible. When Hermione and he had shared glances in class, or laughed about something together, or competed with each other for the top grade. When there had been a joking manner, a light banter, even kind of a friendship.

But then, in sixth year, everything changed. Hermione saw Ron through new eyes, and the rest was history. Her friendship with Draco immediately ended and she never spared a thought for him, not even to say a quick hello to him when they passed each other in the halls. No, all she saw was Ron.

And the one who suffered the most? Draco Malfoy.

 **But if I can't have you, I want this life alone.**

"Draco! Draco, wake up!" Pansy Parkinson said eagerly, shaking his shoulder. This got her jealous glares from other Slytherin girls who also wanted to be going to Hogsmeade with Draco Malfoy.

He lifted his head groggily. He'd been sleeping at the breakfast table, having passed another sleepless night the night before. "What?" he said, yawning.

"Well, there's a Hogsmeade weekend next week," she said, looking suggestively at him.

His eyes flitted to Hermione, who was laughing with Ron across the Great Hall. What he wouldn't give to be going to Hogsmeade with her. Even though he knew what Pansy was suggesting, he responded with a "So?"

She giggled. "Well, I don't have anyone to go with..."

He ignored her, grabbed a piece of bacon, and left the Great Hall.

There were plenty of girls who liked Draco. Actually, most of the Slytherin girls did. He was good looking, athletic, and rich. But Draco didn't pay a bit of attention to any of these girls, no matter how pretty they were.

Because the girl who had captured Draco's heart wasn't a Slytherin. She was a Gryffindor.

 **Spare you the rising storms, and let the rivers flow.**

Draco Malfoy's life was a mess, that was for sure. It came to a climax in sixth year, the same year that Hermione fell for Ron.

Draco Malfoy was ordered by Voldemort to kill Dumbledore. If he didn't succeed, he and his family died. If he did succeed, they probably died anyway. Draco was physically ill from the stress, from the fear, from the pressure. In order to avoid actually saying Avada Kedavra to Dumbledore, which he knew he could never bring himself to do, he tried foolish things. A cursed necklace.

A bottle of poisoned mead that almost killed Ron Weasley. Draco couldn't deny it: He'd felt a twinge of gladness when he learned that Ron had been poisoned, even though he hated himself for it. Then, of course, he learned that the infamous Harry Potter had saved his friend's life. This annoyed Draco greatly. One thing Potter didn't need was more fame. But it also relieved Draco greatly because he definitely didn't need a murder on his hands.

And then, Draco Malfoy was crushed. He was walking by the hospital one day so he could subtly peek in and confirm that Ron was still breathing. As he passed by, a crying Lavender Brown ran out of the room. Draco looked in to see Hermione and Ron embracing tearfully as if they'd never let go. And then she kissed him.

Draco spun on his heel and hurried down the corridor as the whole impact of what he'd done struck him: He'd unintentionally brought Hermione and Ron together.

 **I will give you all of me, just leave your lover, leave him for me.**

Draco was at Ron and Hermione's wedding. After the Battle, Draco had formed what could be called a renewal of their old friendship with Hermione. Although there was no real amity, there was also no hostility between them.

Hermione was a beautiful bride. Draco's heart ached as he saw her, glowing with happiness, a happiness that he could never be a part of. A happiness that was for her future with Ron.

As everyone went to congratulate the bride, Draco went up to her. "I guess I can't call you Granger anymore, can I?" he said, forcing a smile.

She laughed. "I guess not." She beamed at him, her happiness running over.

"I'm happy for you, Hermione." It cut his heart out to say it, and nearly killed him as she hugged him and he realized he meant it.

He was finally letting her go. He knew she would never, ever leave Ron. She loved him. And Draco accepted it.

But he also knew he would never, ever forget the beautiful, passionate girl who had captured his heart. And he didn't want to.


End file.
